Eight Years
by Pesky Ixy Pesternomi
Summary: First Place Winner! of Dear. Dark. Destiny's "Can You Write A Romance?" challenge. Draco/Hannah.


**A/N: This was written in response to the "Can You Write A Romance?" Challenge. It's awfully long for a one shot I think, but I really hope you all enjoy it. I enjoyed writing it. :)**

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"Psssssst, Draco." Draco Malfoy looked up from the documents he was reviewing to see a cute face peering through his door. "Can I come in?" Draco smiled.

"Of course you can come in, why on earth are you whispering?" He asked laughing.

"I don't want to be over heard." Hannah looked around deviously as if afraid somebody would jump out of his file cabinet to listen to their conversation. "The people in the department are complete _fiends_ when it comes to the information I'm about to disclose to you." She spoke seriously, but with a joking twinkle in her eye.

"I'm all ears, this is obviously a very serious manner." Draco tried to sound solemn.

"It is! That's exactly it! It's a very serious manner." She told him, as she pushed aside some papers to sit on his desk.

"Do tell." He grinned, he just couldn't help it anymore. She was far too cute when she tried to be seriously playful like this.

"Well you see, the thing is, you know how I'm dating Puddlemere United's keeper, Oliver Wood?" She asked.

_'How could I forget?' _He thought to himself bitterly. _'Stupid barmy old Gryffindor, has less brain cells than a bag of gobstones.'_ But of course he smiled at her and assured her that he remembered.

"Well, being his girlfriend has certain disadvantages. You see, I have these extra tickets to the Falmouth Falcons game this Saturday, and I have absolutely no idea where I'll find a Falmouth fan to accompany little old me to the game." She sighed theatrically.

"That does seem like quite the situation you've gotten yourself into Miss Abbott." Draco agreed, doing his best to play along. "I'm not sure I know of any Falmouth fans myself." He stated, reaching his hand forward to knock down the autographed photograph of the team he had framed onto it's face. Hannah openly laughed at this. Draco grinned, but continued his speech. "But I suppose I could bring myself to accompany you, I'll be terribly bored and horrendous company I assure you, but I would go out of my way to please a lady such as yourself."

"Well thank you very much kind sir." Hannah said. "Will you be taking lunch with me today?"

"Don't I always?" He asked.

"Yes, I suppose you do, ever since our broom closet offices." She laughed reminiscing.

"Yes well I'm glad to say we've both come a long way since the days when we were both fetching coffee and working with our feet in mop buckets, _Miss 'Official Gobstones Club' Department Head._" She hopped off his desk and curtsied.

"You aren't too shabby yourself, _Mr. British and Irish League Spokesman._" She laughed.

"Spokesman is still a long way from Department Head." He reminded her.

"Yes I suppose it is, but your division of our department is also much, much larger than mine." She told him. "You'll get there, and we'll have a party because you'll deserve it."

"Oh I love a good party," he sighed, "but I'll never get to that party if a certain DH doesn't stop distracting me from this request for _another_ edit to the League's official rules."

"I'll see you at lunch then." Hannah stuck her tongue out at him and went to the door. "Oh, and as far as the game goes, my secretary is going with us too." She smiled and shut the door behind her.

_'She will be the death of me that one.' _Draco thought to himself with a sigh.

Hannah and Draco became quick friends after the war, especially when they had both been hired into the partially destroyed Ministry, whatever their titles were had never really been decided, but they were both essentially _errand-runners_ for the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and they had bonded through their mutual dislike for certain members of the department who's coffee was never _c____r_eamy 

enough. They always had lunch together at the Ministry cafeteria, and it was a tradition that had never wavered in their eight years together in the department. Draco had steadily come to find that Hannah's blood status didn't bother him in the least and that she was an extremely good friend to him, and about two years after they had formed their friendship, he woke up one morning to the sudden realization that he was in love with Hannah Abbott. It only took him a few minutes to remember that unfortunately, Hannah didn't seem to love him in return. So Draco went about his business, harbouring his secret and being a good friend to her, because really, what else could he do?

* * *

Draco waited patiently at a table at the Leaky Cauldron for Hannah and her secretary to show up, he had no idea what to expect of Hannah's secretary, it seemed to him as if she had a new one every week, they always seemed to send the most dimwitted Ministry secretaries to the Department of Magical Games and Sports, he felt as if the other ministry departments thought them a lesser department, but people needed entertainment.

So Draco sat drumming his fingers across the table, sipping from a glass of firewhiskey, waiting for Hannah and her latest dimwit to appear. When they finally walked in the door he wasn't at all disappointed, for two reasons. One being that Hannah looked marvelous as always, and honestly, Draco was never disappointed when he got the chance to look at her. The other reason being that he couldn't think of anyone more dimwitted to be Hannah's new secretary. He remembered the girl from Hogwarts, always giggling over one thing or another, and at one point in time she seemed permanently attached to the Weasel's arm. To say Draco was not a fan of Lavender Brown would have been an understatement.

"Draco!" Hannah greeted, bending down to hug him in his chair, he inhaled deeply. _'My God, she might as well be wearing Amortentia for purfume.'_

The poor love-sick fool.

"Well, are we all ready to go?" He asked.

"Ready whenever you are, _Draco._" Lavender cooed. Draco felt himself die a little on the inside. He hated girls that cooed.

"Er, right. I'll just go pay my tab." He told them both before going to the counter to settle his bill with Tom. When he was ready to go, the three of them stepped out into Diagon Alley and disapparated to the Bodmin Moor stadium for the game.

When they appeared at the gates, Draco felt himself begin to get excited. He loved a good Quidditch game, and it was one of the only things, other than Hannah, that could bring out the child in him. He began talking quietly to Hannah and pointing at things, trying very hard to ignore the obvious hints Lavender was giving him that he should be romantic and buy her a souvenir.

"She's rather persistent isn't she?" He whispered to Hannah. She laughed.

"How do you know that isn't why I brought her?" She asked. He looked dumbfound.

"Why you little..." he seemed to be at a loss of words. "Actually no, that's extremely Slytherin of you, I'm proud." He smirked. Hannah glared at him, the debate over which house was better, Slytherin or Hufflepuff had been on going for about seven years now.

"You know, the Hufflepuff common room was beside the kitchens." She countered. He laughed.

"Yes I do know, is that your default argument or something? It's a wonder you don't weight a ton!"

"Oh I never did visit the kitchens when we were all in school together, those House-elves served much too food as it was during meals." Lavender butted into their conversation, trying to appear petite and ladylike or something. Draco didn't really care to know.

"Er, right." He responded.

"Besides, I don't know why the two of you are even bothering to argue about it, everyone knows Gryffindor was the best house." She decided.

"Oh yes, let's not forget Saint Potter's blessed house." Draco replied sarcastically.

"Well he was a very good Quidditch player." Hannah agreed. "Didn't he always beat you to the snitch Draco?" She teased. Draco glared.

"Yes well, we all know I'm the better looking of the two." He replied haughtily.

"I most definitely agree with that statement." Lavender told him, batting her eyelashes. Draco cringed.

The trio had finally reached the top of the tower they had been climbing and scurried to find their seats before the game was scheduled to begin. Draco and Hannah had bought opposite Puddlemere and Falmouth banners on the walk in, and looked rather comical cheering beside each other during the game, talking smack and sticking their tongues out at one another playfully as their corresponding teams scored. Lavender entertained herself by talking to the handsome gentleman seated behind them the entire game, batting her eyelashes and agreeing with everything he said about the game that she was obviously not paying any attention to.

After three and a half hours, Puddlemere's seeker managed to pull off a rather spectacular move and land a win for the team, coming from behind. Hannah laughed at the look on Draco's face and patted him on the head, telling him there was always next year, to which he shot her a teasing glare. They all stood and waited for the Puddlemere team to fly up into the top box to meet the press and listen, Hannah and Draco separated from Lavender, who was still chatting the gentleman from earlier up, and squeezed their way through the crowd to the front just in time to see the first members of the team land.

The press swarmed in and began asking all sorts of questions about how the team felt about particular plays and the pair listened intently, Draco scowling at some of their remarks. Hee scowled even worse at some of the looks Wood was sending to the sidelines where Hannah and he were standing with a handful of other fans. Finally some of the reporters began directing questions at Oliver and he had to turn his attention back to the press.

"Mr. Wood, you managed to pull of some pretty great saves during the game today, how do you feel about your performance?"

"Well gee," Oliver scratched his head, "I always try to play to the best of my ability, and I guess today, the best of my ability was good enough." He smiled as a few puffs of different colored smoke filled the air from photographers snapping his picture.

"Do you have any plans to celebrate the win?"

"Well," he blushed, "actually I do. Excuse me a minute."

Everyone looked confused as he darted past a few of the reporters towards where the fans were gathered and motioned for Hannah to come forward and the Hit Wizards let her through. She smiled at the camera's shyly, looking a bit confused as to what he was doing. Oliver kissed her on the forehead and returned his attention to the press.

"I'm not sure how much of the general community knows, but this is my girlfriend Hannah Abbott, we've been together for about six years now, she's gorgeous isn't she?" He asked, looking at her again as she turned a deep shade of red and turned her face into his shoulder shaking her head. "I plan to celebrate tonight by taking her out to dinner." He told the reporters, "but first..."

Draco watched in horror along with the curious fans and reporters, as that good-for-nothing, brainless keeper got down on one knee and took a chain off of his neck, removing a sparkling diamond engagement ring from in.

"Hannah," he cleared his throat and the top box got as quiet as a top box could be, "I've been wearing this ring around my neck during every game for the past two seasons, because knowing that I would one day present it to you gives me the strength to do my best. I was waiting for the perfect opportunity to give it to you, it was going to be incredibly romantic, I would have your favorite flowers for you and champagne, the whole ordeal. But before the game tonight, one of my mates on the team, Benjy Williams, asked me when that perfect moment was going to come. I realized that I don't know what I've been waiting for, and that every moment with you is perfect, so now is as good of a time as any. I hope you'll forgive me for embarrassing you like this in front of the press, but I couldn't wait a minute longer. Will you be my wife?"

Hannah was crying happily by then, and a million camera's were flashing, but Draco couldn't hear her reply over the sound of his shattering heart.

* * *

A knock sounded on Draco's office door the following Monday and he ignored it. He wasn't in the mood for people. After another couple of knocks, his door opened and Hannah slipped inside.

"Draco? Are you alright? I was knocking for almost five minutes?" She looked at him worriedly. Draco looked at the expression on his face and immediately felt remorseful, he hated upsetting her.

"I'm sorry, I must have gotten really absorbed in this report." He apologized, holding up a report he knew absolutely nothing about.

"Oh," Hannah smiled. "That's one of the reasons I like you Draco, you actually take your work seriously." Draco didn't reply.

"You went missing after the game Saturday, I'm sorry I didn't see you to say goodbye, everything was a little... hectic." She blushed.

"Yes well, I'm sure the lack of my presence was nothing to you." Draco replied, a slight bitterness to his tone.

"Oh please don't be like that! I said I was sorry for not telling you by. I'm sure you understand that there was so much going on." She pleaded sadly. Draco sighed.

"Yes. I know, I apologize. It's nothing you did I just..." he thought of what to say for moment. "I had some things I needed to take care of anyways."

"What things?" Hannah asked curiously.

_'I had a living room to destroy and some firewhiskey to drink.' _Draco admitted bitterly to himself.

"Just some work things, nothing important." He smiled, though it pained him to do so. Hannah studied him for a moment before coming to sit on his desk, right in his workspace.

"Draco? I don't want to accuse you of anything but, are you perhaps angry with me for being engaged to Oliver?" She asked, holding her breath a little. This was a subject they had never breached. Draco felt his heart drop into his stomach. He looked at her and had no idea how to respond.

"I... I'm not _angry_ with you Hannah. I could never be angry with you." He admitted.

"What is it then? And you can't tell me it's nothing because I _know_you Draco, I know it's bothering you for some reason. Is it that you think I won't be your best friend anymore? Because I can assure you that'll never happen, I'll always be your best friend, your very best friend." She insisted. Draco laughed bitterly.

"No Hannah, that's not it at all. And I know you'll always be my friend, that's exactly the problem." He scoffed. She looked confused for a moment.

"Draco, I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

"I don't _want_ you to be my friend Hannah, don't you get it?" He asked, raising from his seat a little crazed. He walked to his window to look out of it, laughing at how pathetic he must be.

"Oh." Hannah looked hurt. "I'll just go then."

"No I'm not finished." Draco snapped. "I want you to hear this."

Hannah sat back down timidly. Whatever she had been expecting this morning, it wasn't for Draco to suddenly decide he didn't want their friendship to continue.

"What I don't understand," Draco began, "is how you've never realized it before."

"Realized what exactly?" She asked.

"How I feel about you."

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Up until this morning I was fairly certain I knew exactly how you felt, I'm your best friend just as you are mine, right?" She asked hopefully.

"No Hannah, not right." He turned to look at her. "I can't just be your friend, because I've spent almost every day of the past six years telling myself it was okay that you were with Oliver, and that I really didn't care that much. But after Saturday, this is just too much for me, I can't pretend I don't care anymore. I'm bloody in love with you Hannah Abbott, I have been for a long time and you've been a fool to not realize it."

A look of understanding passed across Hannah's pretty little features and she closed her eyes, breathing steadily. She shook her head.

"How long?" She whispered.

"What does it matter?" He asked.

"_How _long, Draco?" She opened her eyes.

"Eight years." He spoke quietly, not wanting to look her in the eye.

Hannah snorted, and tried to blink away the tears forming in her eyes. And then she started to laugh. A loud, obnoxious, delirious sort of laugh that only comes from somebody who is crying horrible heartbreaking tears. She was crying and laughing and hiccuping all at the same time, making a horrible mess of herself, sitting on Draco's desk.

Draco had no idea what to do, but he couldn't bear to see her crying like that so he crossed the short distance between them and began rubbing her back, using his other hand to wipe some of the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry Hannah, I didn't mean to upset you. We can just pretend we've never had this conversation if you like." He muttered, making soothing sounds and trying his hardest not to gather her up in his arms, she was spoken for after all. Hannah laughed outloud again, and hiccuped, before jumping up from his desk and swatting his hands from her face. She looked at him for a minute and then did something completely unexpected and punched him.

"_Draco. Sodding. Malfoy. You. Are. So. Bloody. Stupid. It. Isn't. Even. Funny!" _She told him, punctuating every word with another pound of one of her little fists. "I loved you too you fool! I hinted and hinted for two in a half bloody years! Even after Oliver and I had begun dating casually! You just _never got the hint _you fool!" She stopped hitting him and flung herself into his chest to cry some more. Draco wrapped his arms around her in shock, and began stroking her hair. He could feel his broken heart mending itself in that very moment. He was in heaven. He was elated. He was.. wait... did she say _loved? _Had she meant that as in past tense, didn't anymore? Or as in she had always _loved_ him? He hoped for the best.

"It's okay Hannah." He spoke softly, still stroking her hair. "It's okay now, we can be together if you want." She laughed a very different kind of laugh now. A sad laugh.

"No Draco, we can't. I can't do that to Oliver." She pulled out of their embrace and wiped more tears from her face with the palms of her hands. "I wish it were that easy, but I gave up on you, and I really do love Oliver now."

The hands piecing Draco's broken heart back together slipped and dropped it.

"Oh, well then." He began. "I suppose I should at least be glad that now you know." He drew his desk chair out from underneath it and sat down, shuffling some of the papers Hannah had moved, back together.

"I'm sorry Draco. I really do wish things were different." She whispered softly.

"As do I, but that isn't the case is it?" He asked, smiling tightly. "I suppose we'll both just have to, go about our business then, and try to see past this little hitch aye?" He looked away from her. "I don't think I'll be able to join you for lunch today I'm afraid, I've got tons of work to do here." Hannah nodded and went to the door.

"I'll just give you your space then." She told him. He didn't respond so she opened the door and made to step out.

"I'm truly sorry Draco." She whispered. "I love you." She closed the door behind her as she left.

Draco dropped the papers he had been fumbling with and as the last of his resolve shattered, he put his head in his shaking hands and cried.

* * *

Three months passed and Hannah and Draco's relationship dwindled. They were cordial towards each other during department meetings, but neither could bring themselves to continue their lunch dates, knowing they had lost something that they never really had.

Draco knew that Hannah and Oliver's wedding was swiftly approaching, and he had actually thrown his wireless out of his office window when _Magical-Lee_of 98.6, The River had made an announcement about the upcoming nuptials, only to remember when it bounced back and hit him in the head that the windows were just enchanted to mimic the outside weather and breeze, and were actually stone walls. He'd sported a black eye for two weeks, causing Hannah to give him several curious looks that he had ignored.

A week before the wedding, he had come into the office a bit late, but when he arrived, he found it increasingly difficult to get to his office, a large crowd had formed in the corridor leading to it. He pushed his way through to the front of the crowd, to see Lavender in the hallway outside of her office, cowering slightly as her belongings were being thrown at her.

Draco darted into the room to see Hannah in tears, throwing things haphazardly out the office door and yelling.

"How _could _you Lavender? After the friendship I've shown you? I didn't even fire your stupid stupid self, even though you were an incredibly incompetent secretary! _You can't even alphabetize correctly! _Well _you're fired now, you bitch!_" Hannah cried out, and threw another picture frame out of the doorway. Draco shut the door to the office swiftly and flicked his wand towards it, placing a locking charm upon it. He swept Hannah up in his arms and sat in the office chair that had been pushed into the middle of the room. She clutched his chest and cried heavily.

They sat like that for almost an hour, Draco just stroked her hair and offered her words of comfort as she cried her eyes out.

"How could I have been so stupid Draco?" She finally asked, hiccuping.

"You aren't stupid at all Hannah." He told her, wiping her face. "But I'm afraid I don't really know what's going on."

"He _cheated_ on me with that twat!" She cried. "I don't understand. He's been cheating on me ever since I hired her. He came to see me at work just a few days after she began and apparently they remembered each other from Hogwarts and hit it off or some bullshit." She took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

Draco felt his blood begin to boil. How any man in their right mind could cheat on a girl like Hannah Abbott was beyond him.

"I'll kill him." Draco offered. He was serious. Hannah laughed.

"That won't be necessary, but I appreciate you trying to cheer me up." She smiled.

"I just don't understand why he proposed. He told me this morning, because he felt _guilty._ He wanted to clear the air between us before the wedding." She told him. "_He thought there would still be a wedding!_" She exclaimed in an offended tone.

Draco sighed and just pulled her into another hug.

"Well, on the bright side, he at least told you before you bonded your souls. A magical wedding is much more binding than the ones you muggles partake in." He teased. Hannah punched him.

"My father was a wizard and you know it you bigot."

"Yes well, you still look like a muggle to me." Draco laughed. Hannah glared, but then smiled realizing what he was doing. She put her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you that day Draco. I shouldn't have punched you either. I was the stupid one." She apologized in a tiny voice. "I'm sorry I didn't wait longer for you to realize I was waiting for you." She told him.

Draco looked down at her face and felt mixed emotions.

"I would have been lucky to be with somebody like you." She told him, and before he could fully comprehend what was going on, she lifted her head up and kissed him. He closed his eyes and melted into her kiss before feeling his conscious kick in, and regretfully pulled back from her.

"Hannah, you know that I love you. And I really hope this means you love me too, but we can't do this." He told her painfully. Hannah looked embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think..." She began, but quickly got up and began straightening her appearance before heading towards the door.

"No, I just... I want you to be absolutely sure okay?" He told her, hoping he wouldn't regret it.

"It's okay Draco, I understand." She told him, before walking out the door.

* * *

A week passed in which Draco saw no sign of Hannah. She wasn't in her office, he never ran into her in the cafeteria, she wasn't in any of their local haunts. She just disappeared. He went as far as to ask the Head of the entire Department of Magical Games and Sports where she had gone, only to find out she had rather abruptly demanded a weeks vacation.

So by the time Friday night rolled around, Draco could be found in the newly refurnished living room of his Hogsmeade flat, sipping out of a bottle of firewhiskey alone, and listening to the Falmouth game on the wireless.

He was absolutely miserable, knowing he had completely ruined his only chance with the witch he was in love with. He was just about to turn the wireless off and retire to bed early when a knock came at his front door. Slowly, he walked to the door and pulled it open, to reveal Hannah wrapped up warmly in her cloak.

"Can I come in?" She asked.

"Of course." He responded quickly, moving aside. Hannah began unwrapping herself and put her cloak and scarf on a rack by the door.

"Have you had a good vacation?" He inquired, curious as to what her purpose was.

"I have. I've decided I need to change some things about my life." She told him. "I bought the Leaky Cauldron from Tom." She revealed. Draco looked at her curiously, wondering why she had come to tell him this. "It will be a pay cut to begin with, but when I was a little girl, I always wanted to have my own restaurant. I enjoyed cooking with my mother very much, and I think it's something I'll enjoy." She told him.

"Well I'm glad you're doing something to make yourself happy." He told her, feeling the small amount of hope surrounding her visit begin to fade.

"Thank you." She told him. "But my happiness wasn't the only reason for my decision." He raised an eyebrow at her. "You'll make a great department head one day Draco." She told him.

"I appreciate it Hannah, but I don't think I understand what that has to do with you buying the Leaky Cauldron..." He trailed off.

"Well, there's a clause in some of the employment guidelines at the Ministry. Employees cannot date other employees who they are in a position of power over, and regardless of both of us working in seperate divisions of our department, my being a DH would force them to either fire you, or more you to another department if one of us didn't resign." She informed him. He looked at her confused, then smiled a little.

"I'm afraid I still don't understand Miss Abbott, the last time I checked, we weren't romantically involved." He told her.

"Yes, about that." She smiled. "That's another thing I was planning on changing about my life." And with that she walked to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, they both smiled and she kissed him squarely on the lips.

* * *

**A/N: So? What did you think? I'm typically a huge Dramione fan, so I didn't have too much trouble pretending Hannah was Hermione, but for some reason, I can kind of see a Drannah happening too. :)**


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